The Government of Vanuatu requested assistance from the World Bank to strengthen utility regulation. The government wants a regulatory system which will ensure that water, electricity and telecommunications services are provided efficiently, to a good quality standard, at reasonable prices. The public private infrastructure advisory facility provided funding for Castalia and network strategies to carry out an initial diagnostic phase. This report is the result of that initial diagnostic phase. The report: a) reviews performance of the electricity, water and telecommunications sectors on measures of cost, access, quality and efficiency, identifying the areas in which Vanuatu is doing well, and those aspects where the government might desire improvement
b) reviews the current regulatory arrangements, industry and market structures for the utilities against good international practice, and suggests areas in which changes to the current arrangements might help to improve performance
and c) recommends specific regulatory and institutional changes for the government's consideration.